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Kencari (language)
The Kencari languages are a group of three closely related languages that are spoken in the former Bowdani nations of the LUKP, the Coare Republic, Western Shore, and Tak, among others. They belong to a larger language family, the Carian language group, which also includes both Pocari languages and Coare). There is debate whether the Carian languages are indigenous to Smalik or not. Classification Kencari consists of three main dialects: Coastal Kencari, Lake Kencari and White Kencari, which, with some effort, are mutually intelligible. Coastal Kencari is the language of the dominant tribe of Bowdani and is spoken in large parts of Western Bowdani, but also in several parts elsewhere in the country, as well as in parts of Tak (near the northern border of Lake Pearyt and in and around the city of Lp (Tak)), which used to be part of Bowdani. Coastal Kencari is by far the largest member of the Kencari languages. Lake Kencari is mostly spoken on the western borders of Lake Pearyt. Nowadays there are an estimated 4000 or 5000 speakers. White Kencari, supposedly named after this tribe's war colours that were elaborately painted on their faces, is only spoken by 150 to 200 people living in the area between South Martin and the border of Davenport. White Kencari is expected to be extinct within 50 years, although some action groups try to convince people in the area to learn the language. Grammar Phonology/pronunciation Vowels and diphthongs (S) = as pronounced in stressed syllables, (O) = as pronounced in unstressed syllables. *a : CK (S)/a/, (O) /ä/ ; LK (S) /ɒ:/, (O) /ɒ/ ; WK (S/O) /a/ *ä : CK (S) /ɑi̯/ *ae : LK (S) /e/, (aer) /ɪr/ *au : LK (S) /ɔ/ *e : CK (S) /ei̯/, (O) /ə/ ; LK (S) /ɛ/, (O) /ə/ ; WK (S/O) /ɛ/ *ee : CK (S) /ei̯/ *ei : WK (S) /əe̯/ *ë : CK (S) /œ/ *i : CK (S) /i/, (O) /ɪ/ ; LK (O) /ɪ/ ; WK (O) /i/ *ia : WK (S) /ja/ *ie : LK (S) /ɪə/ ; WK (S) /je/ *io : LK (S) /ɪɔ/ *o : CK (S) /o/ ; LK (S) /ɔ:/; WK (S/O) /ɔ/ *oe : LK (S) /ə/ *ow : CK (S) /ɔ/ *ö : CK (S) /ə/ *u : CK (S) /u/ or /ɯ/, (O) /ɯ/ ; LK (S/O) /ɯ/ ; WK (S) /u/ *ue : LK+WK (S) /we/ *ui : WK (S) /ue̯/ Consonants Kencari consonants are generally pronounced like you would expect, except: *bb (initial) : CK+LK /bz/ *b́ (initial) : WK /bz/ *c (always) : /ts/, NEVER as /k/ *dd (initial) : CK+LK /dz/ *gg (initial) : CK+LK /dz *j (initial) : WK /dz/ *pp (initial) : CK+LK /ps/ *ṕ (initial) : WK /ps/ Morphology The Kencari languages are all mostly analytic languages, which means that there is little inflection, but many particles and postpositions to express the function of the preceding words in the phrase. Only in Coastal Kencari some of these particles assimilated with preceding nouns and created what could loosely be described as ‘cases’, the most important of which is the genitive case: cehi ('goat') + ha ('of') > cehee ('of goats'), whereas in Lake and White Kencari these words remain separated: LK cihio ha, WK cíe a. Kencari languages do have certain suffixes to indicate the nature of nouns, e.g. whether they are masculine, feminine, collectives, young/new variants, abstracts, activities, etc. Numerals *'CK': 1. nee, 2. bbic, 3. mud, 4. läg, 5. seeg, 6. bi, 7. owgí, 8. guc, 9. ezec, 10. bbup *'LK': 1. nie, 2. bbioc, 3. mued, 4. laeg, 5. sieg, 6. bio, 7. augí, 8. guec, 9. eziec, 10. bbup *'WK': 1. mia, 2. b́iet, 3. nued, 4. leig, 5. siag, 7. bie, 7. ogí, 8. guet, 9. eziak, 10. b́op Verbs Verbs exist in four forms, the verbnoun and three other forms that were created by adding suffixes to an ancient form of the verbnoun. The verbnoun can act as an infinite verb or as an active participle; the other forms take grammatical subjects (I see, you have, the man bites, the cat plots, etc.) # The verbnoun # The active form (to eat e.g. soup); add CK -(ä)ze, LK -(ae)ss, WK -(ei)s # The medium form (to eat as a general activity); add CK (ä)m, LK -(ae)wu, WK -(ei)vi # The passive form (to be eaten); add CK -(ow)vac, LK -(au)vac, WK -(o)vat Stems ending in vowels are mostly formed regularly: *CK bastree (searching) > bastreze (to search something), bastreem (to search), bastrevac (to be searched) *LK bastrie (searching) > bastriess, bastriewu, bastrievac *WK bastria (searching) > bastrias, bastriavi, bastriavat Stems ending in consonants may show some irregularities: *CK luhöss (drinking) > luhözäze, luhözäm, luhözowvac *LK luhoess (drinking) > luhoezaess, luhoezaewu, luhoezauvac *WK liuiz (drinking) > liuizeis, liuizeivi, liuizovat TO BE EXPANDED Category:Languages Category:Tak Category:Smalik